I'm 31 and my highest weight was 298lbs. Right now I'm about 40lbs down.

Atalanta, I'm like you in getting married and having kids isn't the top of my list (if it happens to me, that's nice, but it's not something I think about all that often).

Something that stood out to me from your post is you saying you want to go swimming again. I felt that way- and then in March I decided to suck it up and just go. And you know what? I loved it! My local pool is an open air one, so it's closed until September (I'm in NZ) so I'm waiting impatiently for it to reopen.

If you're still looking for a buddy, maybe we could challenge each other to lose enough weight by springtime that we'll be happy in our togs on the beach or in the pool?

Btw, I was just over in Sydney for Easter- you have such a beautiful city and I can see why you want to enjoy everything it has to offer. Use that as your motivation, and try to ignore rude strangers.